What books are we reading at the moment ?

[ian]

The latest but one Charlie Parker (the Woman in the Woods). More ghostly goings-on and murders aplenty in Maine (bonus murders in Indiana). As good as ever though I expected a bit more of a conclusion, but actually I liked the ending, though I suspect I'll now have to pony up £10.99 for the next instalment rather than wait for it to drop...

[citoyen]

Animals by Emma Jane Unsworth

It was on my list, for some reason, hence I got a notification when it was on offer for 99p. Glad I didn’t pay more than that for it, tbh. Not really my kind of thing It’s amusing in places but falls somewhat short of its billing as “Withnail for girls” or whatever it was the blurb said. Makes the mistake of thinking graphic swearing, sex, drinking and drug-taking is intrinsically funny and “edgy”. Some of the writing is seriously clunky, though there’s the occasional original turn of phrase.

There’s a film of it now, apparently. I don’t think I’ll be rushing to the cinema.

[Mr Larrington]

The bloke who does the film reviews on the BBC news channel when Mark Commode is off being Important reckoned the film to be worthy of attention but the "Withnail For Girls" thing ought to be enough to put sane people off and instead devote the time to finding the person responsible for the phrase and killing them.

[ian]

Animals by Emma Jane Unsworth

It was on my list, for some reason, hence I got a notification when it was on offer for 99p. Glad I didn’t pay more than that for it, tbh. Not really my kind of thing It’s amusing in places but falls somewhat short of its billing as “Withnail for girls” or whatever it was the blurb said. Makes the mistake of thinking graphic swearing, sex, drinking and drug-taking is intrinsically funny and “edgy”. Some of the writing is seriously clunky, though there’s the occasional original turn of phrase.

There’s a film of it now, apparently. I don’t think I’ll be rushing to the cinema.

You got further than I with my 99p punt. It wasn't awful but indeed, clunky in places (really, don't they have editors any more?). Felt a bit like it was written to spec for a demographic that isn't me. I was going to go back and finish it but suspect I won't.

The characters weren't especially interesting or likeable and evidently I'm not easily shocked by bad language, sex or drugs. Basically, a female-targetted version of the tired 'boys behaving badly' format.

I have seen the movie posters. And no, I can't say it'll drag me in either.

[citoyen]

the "Withnail For Girls" thing ought to be enough to put sane people off and instead devote the time to finding the person responsible for the phrase and killing them.

Aside from being a lazy hack trope, it's setting the bar very high for yourself, so disappointment is pretty much inevitable.

[Quint]

Various problems made me lose interest in reading then World of Books sent me the usual weekly e-mail (which I usually bin, for some reason I opened it and amongst the books was Catch 22, on a whim I bought it and I could barely put it down, absolutely brilliant, just brilliant.

[ian]

the "Withnail For Girls" thing ought to be enough to put sane people off and instead devote the time to finding the person responsible for the phrase and killing them.

Aside from being a lazy hack trope, it's setting the bar very high for yourself, so disappointment is pretty much inevitable.

Hmm, I confess I didn't think of the Withnail and I comparison (and evidently didn't read the blurb), but it sounds like marketing had started the day on a quadruple espresso. I read another chapter and it's all a bit a middle-class-people-behaving-badly too, which you should only do if you're wannabe actors who know how to do it right, otherwise you're just a bit annoying. It's not awful, just not my cup of tea, but hey, 99p.

Apropos of nothing, my wife sat near Richard E. Grant yesterday evening. She sadly didn't ask him for a Camberwell Carrot, though alas, my wife has lived the sort of life where any Camberwell carrot would be an orange root vegetable grown in South London.

[Paul]

I've just finished my first re-read of A Prayer For Owen Meany. It's about 30 years since I first read it. I think I always knew I would read it again. It was (even) better the second time around (apart from knowing the end). I think I read it better this time.

I had to stop last night before the end, just to gather my wits. I still choked.

[Nuncio]

Same. Almost. I re-read a couple of years ago after abour 20 years.  One of those books you put down after finishing and have to take a few minutes to process and then a few more to re-connect the current reality. (I think I had a similar feeeling when finishing Les Miserables.) Whereas Hotel New Hampshire left me cold when I re-read it, having forgotten that I hadn't really liked it the first time.

[citoyen]

Hmm, I confess I didn't think of the Withnail and I comparison (and evidently didn't read the blurb), but it sounds like marketing had started the day on a quadruple espresso.

I had another look. It's actually a quote from Caitlin Moran.

I think that's the target market in a nutshell - Caitlin Moran fans.

It's not awful, just not my cup of tea, but hey, 99p.

Some of it is excruciatingly bad. Some of it is actually quite good. It's even modestly funny in places. But mostly it's just boring.

Anyway, it didn't waste too much of my time. Have now moved on to The Anatomy Of Ghosts by Anthony Taylor. Two reasons for reading this: one, my dad recommended it; two, I love the title. It has started promisingly, with the death of a teenage virgin in a ritual deflowering ceremony at the hands of some boisterous Cambridge students.

[ian]

Well, that's certainly a leap from the middle classes (that's it, Laura, I'm done with Waitrose, from now on I'm shopping in Lidl and I'm doing it drunk and in quite probably in heels. I may even be sick in the freezer, right there, atop the petits pois*) right into the elevated echelons of the upper classes where a boisterous defloration is, one supposes, de riguer for a certain sort of Cambridge student. Not the token ones from state schools, of course. Ritual deflorations, for those of us less enlightened, involved the restricted confines of a mid-1980s Ford Fiesta.

*there, I've saved you the trouble of reading The Animals.

[T42]

Re-reading Light by M. John Harrison.  Judging by the number of times he makes his characters do it, the M stands for masturbate.  That must have perplexed the Registry Office, not to mention the vicar.

[Paul]

One of those books you put down after finishing and have to take a few minutes to process and then a few more to re-connect the current reality.

Exactly. I thought I’d be less susceptible to being so drawn in by it on my second reading but in some ways I think my experiences in between (losing my dad and brother, having my own children) made the story more resonant.
I’ve been a bit emotional all day.

[citoyen]

right into the elevated echelons of the upper classes where a boisterous defloration is, one supposes, de riguer for a certain sort of Cambridge student.

Yes, I think you’ve got the general idea.

[andrewc]

"Outsider".  The first volume of Brian Sewell's autobiography. Fascinating.   Growing up gay in the 40's & 50's. Studying under Anthony Blunt at the Courtauld.   Working in the (shambolic) Christies.  Abandoning religion & celibacy and having an unbelievable amount of sex! (if you believe him).

[Ashaman42]

I'll slowly working my way through All Around The Moon by Jules Verne.

It's the first of his I've read and I want to like it, I really do, but I'm finding it a bit dull.

There's several passages where he (or one of the characters at least) is just listing various lunar mountains and craters and their respective heights/sizes.

[Mr Larrington]

Stuck at an airport?  Nothing to read?  Do not buy, or even steal, a copy of Frederick Forsyth's "The Fox".  It is an unmitigated bucket of arse-gravy from end to end.  Mercifully those ends are not far apart.  Pick up a copy of the Daily Mail instead.  The politics are the same and you might at least get some foopball reporting thrown in.

[Legs]

John Crace agrees with you.

[Karla]

Forsyth turned into a parody of himself some time ago.

There's a new Le Carre out soon too.  That's also going to be a parody of his earlier work, which has been much the same for at least the last 20 years.  It's a shame as his penultimate book rose above the pack and his last one at least finished off a lot of older Smiley era threads, so either book would have been a good place to stop.

[spesh]

Forsyth's best works were the first three: Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File and The Dogs of War. I haven't bothered with anything that he wrote after Icon.

[Legs]

I think I gave up partway through Icon.

[Ruthie]

"The Source" by James Michener, a rather old dramatised version of the foundations of the Abrahamic religions, based around a fictional town in Israel as it is excavated as an archaeological dig.

It's very readable.  It paints a poor picture of the Crusades.  It all went a bit friendly fire.  Stupid bastards.

[Mr Larrington]

Forsyth's best works were the first three: Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File and The Dogs of War. I haven't bothered with anything that he wrote after Icon.

I'm sure I remember reading that Forsyth said he would only ever write three novels.  Must have needed the money.

[Mrs Pingu]

Haruki Murakami's Killing Commendatory.
The usual Murakami weirdness.

[Mr Larrington]

"Raid 42", the fourth of Graham Hurley's "Wars Within" series of loosely-connected novels set in or near WW2.